namaikizakarifandomcom-20200215-history
Chapter 7
This is Chapter 7 from the manga series, Namaikizakari. Plot Kido and other third year retired basketball club members graduate successfully. Naruse and Yuki go out on a date. While Yuki is nervous and insecure during the whole date, Naruse gives her a gift similar to one she cherished a long time ago. On the way back home, Naruse passes by and is recognized by a black haired guy. Chapter Summary It is graduation day. Holding out flower bouquets, Yuki and other junior basketball club members congratulate their seniors. It is March and all the retired basketball club members had smoothly graduated. Tonomura tries to stop Amamiya's rather horrible attempt in dedicating a song to the seniors while Yuki allows them to continue as she got a 30 second permission from the teacher for their performance. Kido pats Yuki’s head and compliments her perfection in doing things and says that he can graduate without worries if she is around. Naruse immediately hits Kido’s head with a basketball and congratulates him. While Kido is shocked by the sudden move, Naruse tells him that the basketball with dedicated messages from the first years is for him, the ex-captain. Yuki thinks of how it seems like the days when she was secretly in love with Kido felt like years ago because of all the things that happened with Naruse. Spring arrives. At the gym, Yuki orders Team B to switch. While Abe complains about having to practice during spring break, Yuki looks at her watch and thinks of how the laundry will be done soon and prepares to leave. When she is about to leave the room, Naruse grabs her hood from behind and asks her where she is going. Hitting his hand, Yuki angrily says that she’s going to do the laundry. While Naruse tells her that he's got something to ask her, she scolds him, saying that it is time for club practice and to leave private matters for later. Still, he asks her if she wants something for White Day. Yuki's heart skips a beat when she makes eye contact with him and embarrased, she looks away and tells him how White Day was a while ago. He says he had forgetten about it till now. Irritated, she thinks of how she had to summon up the courage in abandoning her pride and reason to give him chocolate and acknowledge the fact that she likes him. She blushes and tells herself to calm down as although she has acknowledged it, she hasn’t said it out loud. So as a self made 'Yuki rule', she thinks that it doesn't count if she doesn't say it. After a long pause, Naruse tells her, rather presumably, that they are going on a date. While Yuki is still startled at the sudden setting, Naruse going towards the clubroom, says that it is spring break and there is no club activity tomorrow too. Yuki protests but he continues to tell her that they’ll meet by the station below the clock at 1 p.m. and she should wear a white skirt(according to his personal preference). When she stops him, he turns to tell her that it is time for club practice and to leave private matters for later. Yuki gets furious and mentally curses him. At home, rummaging through her clothes, she wonders what to wear as she can't reject him for she does not have his number. She imagines herself wearing a white skirt and timidly apologizing for making him wait. Covered in cold sweat, Yuki immediately slams the cabinet door and thinks of how since she unwillingly acknowledged that she likes him, she has been avoiding his gaze and situations where they are alone together. She thinks that there is no way that their date could turn out to be fun. The next day, arriving too early, Yuki gets insecure about her looks. When she is about to go to the bathroom to check if anything looks off about her, she overhears a girl calling out to someone. She looks from around the bushes to see some girls flirting with Naruse. While she thinking of what to do next, she loses her balance and falls over the bushes to both Naruse and the girls' surprise. Walking down the streets together, Naruse tells her that it was quite lame and asks her why she was hiding behind the bushes. Cursing her luck, Yuki says that she wasn’t hiding but just tripped over it. At a restaurant, when Naruse is off buying drinks, Yuki observes how Naruse isn't uneasy or nervous at the slightest and considers how this might not be his first date. When she slaps herself to get back to reality, she overhears two girls talking about how Naruse is too hot and Yuki just gives off a friend vibe and does not seem like his girlfriend. This makes Yuki realize that she should have worn something more suitable for a date. Just then, Naruse arrives with their drinks and tells her that he bought her a cocoa-type of drink as she drank something similar at the game center. Yuki offers to pay but he declines and tells her to consider it as a return gift for Valentine’s Day. He also tells her that he had planned to give her something else but as she is not the cutesy type of girl who’d honestly tell him what she wants, he asks her if there was anything she'd received until now that she was really happy about. She tells him about the mug that her grandma gave her when she was about three years old which had 'YUKI' written over it. She tells him how extremely happy she felt when she got it because it was from her grandmother who she loved a lot and thought of how she would treasure it forever but then her brothers went and broke it. She remembers of the times since when she had come to understand the idea of giving up and letting go. She realizes that rambling on and on to Naruse and tells him to forget about it. To her surprise, he says that he understands. He tells her that he bets that she would secretly cry by herself and most probably, she still has the pieces of the broken cup. Yuki is shocked for he was absolutely right. He continues to say that he gets it because he is always watching her attentively. This makes her blush slightly and she gets worried over how he can easily find out the things that she's tried so hard to hide and that is why she doesn't like it and it makes her want to run away. She also thinks, if their eyes meet again, he would be able to find out about her feelings. While riding the escalator, Naruse tells her about how he was going to wear the shoes that he normally wears but Ieyasu, their family dog, bit the laces off. Suddenly, Yuki loses her footing and is about to trip again when Naruse quickly her hand and stops her from falling. He tells her that she is falling over a lot today and teases her over wearing heels. Embarrassed, she tries to protest but stops herself because he had just helped her. Hesitatingly, when she is about to thank him, she sees that he is not even paying attention and is staring at some girls at the general store. This infuriates her as he is openly looking around at other girls while they are on a date. She angrily starts to walk away and when he asks her where she is going, she tells him to the bathroom. She feels like an idiot for being the only one who is anxious and uneasy. At the movie theater, Yuki feels uneasy about the close distance between them and feels more pressure than just walking beside him. With her heart is beating fast, she tells herself to calm down and tries not to get any closer to him but is startled when he actually leans towards her and tells her that the actor kinda looks like Captain Tonomura. She realizes that she has no idea where the movie is going and looks at the screen to find the onscreen couple kissing in the rain which makes her recall their kiss. She trembles and becomes embarrassed while the couple kiss for a seemingly long time. Suddenly, Naruse falls to her side and she gets startled thinking he is up to something but it turns out that he’s fast asleep. Yuki hesitates on what to do and tries to push him away. When she is having a hard time, she notices that his hair is very fine, soft and naturally curly. She reaches out to touch it when someone in the movie starts shouting, ‘Help Me!'. This startles her so much that she calls herself stupid and a molester for touching a person while they are asleep. As Naruse leans over to the other side, she glances at him and thinks of how he totally didn’t wake up. She starts to wonder if he got bored and tired of her as she has been nothing but awkward the whole day even after he went on the trouble to ask her out on a date. While walking, Naruse asks how she thought of the movie. She tells him that it was hard to follow while thinking that she could not watch it at all because of him. When he says that he slept during some time of the movie, she asks him at what time he slept last night. She is puzzled when he says that he didn’t sleep at all as he was to excited for today. She thinks of how minding every little significant detail and worrying about it is also a sign of liking someone. At the bus station, when he tells her that he was going to take her home, she says that she'll be fine by herself as her bus will be arriving soon and that if her younger sisters saw him, they would never shut up. Naruse suddenly calls out to her and tells her to face him and turns her around. She is startled when he tells her to close her eyes and stay completely still. Thinking he will kiss her, Yuki tells him to stop and tries to tell him that its not the right place. He tells her to be quick as the bus is coming. After she closes her eyes, putting a small gift box on her head, he says that it is a Christmas and Valentine’s Day return gift for her. She takes the box and opens it to see a mug just like the one her grandma gave her, with the words "YUKI". She exclaims as to when he bought it and he tells her that he saw it being displayed at the general store before they went in to watch the movie, so while she went to the bathroom, he quickly bought it. She realizes that he wasn’t looking at those girls but at the mugs that the girls were looking at. He tells her that the bus has arrived and if she doesn’t ride it, he’ll take her to his home. She exclaims that she’ll quickly get on. At the bus door, she calls out to him and nervously thanks him for today and tells him to not be late for the club activity tomorrow. Naruse asks her why she's talking so fast. Blushing a bit, she also adds that she had fun. Slightly smiling, he replies that he did too. Later on, while walking on the streets, Naruse passes by a black haired guy. The guy turns around and looks at him and mutters, “Shou..?” At home, Yuki is dumbfounded as the mug has actually says ‘YUKA’. Narration: Spring has arrived. Navigation Category:Chapters